Annexation Painting

Bill Guffey was born and raised in the small, south central Kentucky town of Burkesville. Growing up in the rural area left much to be desired in the way of entertainment, and Guffey turned to drawing and painting at a young age. With no art teachers in the vicinity he took it upon himself to learn what he could through the use of television and books and magazines. He set up a booth at the annual Arts and Crafts Fair at the age of 12, with his simple, enthusiastic paintings. To his delight the high school started their first art class his senior year. The next few years to follow were filled with sketching, drawing, and painting sporadically, accompanied by much travel and adventure. Leaving Kentucky, Bill headed west as a young man and ended up in the ski resort town of Breckenridge, Colorado. After the first winter of over 300 inches of snow he was ready for a warm destination. So it was off to the Caribbean. Bill lived for a short time on the small island of St. John, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Beach life and night life was the laid back, and slowly paced norm on St. John, to which he was happy to endure both. Living in an apartment with only screens for windows and the daily lizards in the shower was a precursor of eclectic living situations for the young artist. After leaving the island life he headed back to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. He lived for a few months in Denver, in places that included the house of a paranoid, tow truck driving, Harley riding acquaintance that thought a spell had been cast upon him, with loaded guns, snakes and tarantulas plentiful around the house; to a one story, old motel called the Titan in a rough part of the city, whose renters were financially challenged people like himself, along with addicts, prostitutes, and roaches; a couple of multi-roommate situations full of people from all walks of life; and finally to a basement apartment that was the most normal, warm, clean, and safe place the 22 year old had lived in some time. The mountains were calling again and we would see Bill moving to a 100+ year old mining cabin, just outside Breckenridge, Colorado. At an elevation of almost 11,000 feet, the cabin had no electricity or running water, although the outhouse was one of the deepest in the region as it was set over a vertical mine shaft that was long unused. Living through a couple of winters in this place was possible for the young man, but was harder than anything Bill had experienced before.